LTE could spur cloud adoption in the Philippines, telco claims

MANILA, Philippines — The upcoming launch of the country’s first LTE (Long-Term Evolution) network will likely bolster the use of cloud computing services in the country, an official from one of the country’s telecom firms remarked recently.

Citing the need of cloud services for high-speed Internet connections, Smart Communications’ Broadband Internet and Data Services Head that to fully enjoy the benefits of the cloud, users would “need a high-speed connection like Smart LTE.”

Cloud computing has taken root in most businesses in the past years, but it is only recently that the cloud gained mainstream status among consumers with the launch of cloud storage and syncing services led by technology giants such as Apple and Google.

And with smartphone penetration in the Philippines predicted to surge in the coming months due to the onslaught of low-cost mobile devices, cloud-based services could be seeing a fresh round of uptick from Filipino users.

However, while cloud-based services offer convenience to the increasingly mobile, smartphone- and tablet-toting consumers, experience is still largely dependent on the speed of Internet connection — especially when accessing or uploading large files through the cloud.

“We are creating more data than what can be stored in just a single memory card or hard drive, which is why being able to store and access everything online is such an attractive proposition,” Manaloto said, stressing how the cloud is the “future of mobility.”

This is why high-speed mobile broadband connectivity, such as those offered by LTE networks, will become a necessary companion for the cloud’s growth in the country.

LTE throughputs, Smart claims, can reach speeds of about 100 Mbps, as proven by the telco’s beta-testing of the service several months ago. A 1-gigabyte file, for example, only takes about 15 minutes to be downloaded through the new network.

“With LTE, accessing software and services on the web will be as quick as when you open files or programs stored locally in your computer’s hard drive,” Manaloto said.

“LTE’s low latency also ensures a reliable connection comparable to that of a high-speed wired connection such as DSL,” he added.

Smart is said to be rolling out its commercial LTE offering “soon,” but the company did not disclose an exact date as to when it would be available for consumers, nor advised about pricing details for the service. Sources, however, said the service will be launched this month.

During the beta-test of its LTE network beginning late last year — where InterAksyon was also a participant — Smart allowed beta users to access a host of fired-up LTE networks in various places in Metro Manila, including ones located in Makati, Paranaque, Mandaluyong, and Quezon City.

There has been no word yet about the total number of base stations Smart is currently fitting with LTE connectivity, although Manaloto pointed out that the new network will be backed by over 50,000 kilometers of fiber optic cabling and the latest Single Radio Access Network located across the country

source: interaksyon.com

IP-Converge opens cloud services portal, offers free Linux server trial

MANILA, Philippines — A local cloud services provider opened on Wednesday a one-stop-shop Web portal that gives customers instant access to the company’s various public cloud-based offerings in just a few clicks of the mouse.

Launched under the banner cloud.com.ph, the IP-Converge portal will give potential cloud customers the chance to shop around the provider’s offerings in the cloud, which include servers, applications, and disaster recovery options.

Unlike traditional on-premise hardware systems, servers in the cloud are accessed and deployed off of a provider’s data center — meaning outside your company’s premises — and can be quickly tweak to match CPU, RAM, and storage requirements.

The company claims cloud.com.ph is the first portal of such kind in the country, as it allows customers to instantly provision cloud services in a way similar to how they shop for products online — instant and hassle-free.

And just like other e-Commerce stores available today, businesses can easily set up servers, build applications, or store their data quickly and pay for it via credit or debit card, as well as other online payment options.

According to Edgar Gutierrez, vice president for carrier relations and special projects at IP-Converge, the service is primarily targeted at small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Philippines who stand to benefit the most from cloud-based IT infrastructure and services.

“It gives SMEs access to the same business applications used by large enterprises at a much lower cost, giving them the time to focus on growing their business and not worry about the technical aspect,” Gutierrez said.

Aside from convenience, the provider said employing cloud-based IT facilities takes out the need to set aside capital funds for rolling out IT systems, and instead makes IT a utility, just like water or electricity, that is paid on a per-usage basis.

“The big plus with cloud.com.ph is that it features highly flexible subscription packages that allow customers to pay only for what they use. Subscriptions can go anywhere from annual to monthly to daily, or even on a per hour basis — an important factor for companies with tight budgets,” it added.

The cloud.com.ph portal will house majority of the providers services already being offered to local companies, such as Linux and Windows servers, disaster recovery and second-site servers, as well as business applications that include a payroll service software, an enterprise resource planning software, and a school management software.

As a promotion for its initial offering through the portal, the company is offering a free trial of its Linux Server Level 2 product, which includes a LINUX Cloud Server (CentOS), 1 CPU Core, 1GB RAM, and 5GB of Storage Area Network, available until July 31, 2012.

All the services will be delivered off the company’s telco-grade and carrier-neutral data centers located at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig and at the RCBC Plaza in Makati.

“By converging our expertise in data center operations, telecommunications networking, and cloud computing, we are able to deliver a true cloud service that enables organizations to focus on their core business and grow bigger, faster” noted IP-Converge President Reynaldo Huergas.

“We believe that the cloud will be the standard model for the delivery of information to the enterprise, and we are happy to bring this capability to Philippine businesses today,” he added.

IP-Converge is part of the IP Ventures Group of companies, a technology conglomerate that also operates IP E-Games, an online gaming publisher and owner of a vast network of Internet cafe chains in the country.

Just recently, however, majority shares of IP-Converge, a publicly listed company, has been purchased by a property group located in the Visayas and Mindanao regions called Januarius Resources Realty Corp. Holdings Inc.

Nonetheless, the buyer was buying into a shell company since IP-Converge recently transferred most of its assets back to a private holdings company of IP Ventures.

source: interaksyon.com

Sony Computer Entertainment buys cloud gaming platform for $380M

Sony's video gaming unit has acquired a California-based cloud gaming platform company for $380 million, a tech site reported Monday.

The Next Web said Sony Computer Entertainment bought Gaikai, which had been on the block and could have been sold for as much as $500 million.

"Established in 2008 and headquartered in Aliso Viejo, California, Gaikai enables the streaming of games to a wide variety of devices – including mobile, tablets, and televisions – via the Internet. No downloads and no additional hardware required," The Next Web noted.

Gaikai’s main rival is cloud gaming firm OnLive, which is backed by HTC.

The Next Web noted Gaikai had only raised $45 million in funding to date, and has backing from Benchmark Capital, TriplePoint Capital, Rustic Canyon Partners, Limelight Networks and Intel Capital.

It quoted SCE as saying the acquisition will establish a new cloud-based interactive entertainment service.

The Sony unit handles the research and development, production and sales of both hardware and software for the PlayStation series of portable and home game consoles.

It is also a developer and publisher of video game titles.

However, The Next Web said the transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.

On the other hand, it said the purchase is also interesting because Gaikai had deals with major Sony competitors like LG and Samsung.

The deals allow it to make video games playable through their "smart TVs," the report said.

Gaikai also has agreements with game retailers, including Walmart.com, Best Buy and Europe’s The Game Group.

"It remains to be seen what will happen with those partnerships, especially with the hardware manufacturers, who should be cursing right about now," The Next Web said. — TJD, GMA News

article source: gmanetwork.com

IT security problems shift as data moves to ‘cloud’

The Internet “cloud” has become the hottest topic in computing, but the trend has created a new range of security issues that need to be addressed.

The cloud is associated with things like personal emails and music which can be accessed on computers and a range of mobile devices.

But the US military and government agencies from the CIA to the Federal Aviation Administration also use cloud systems to allow data to be accessed anywhere in the world and save money — and, ostensibly, to enhance security.

Microsoft, Google, Amazon and others are major players in the cloud, which seeks to transfer some of the data storage issues to more sophisticated data centers. Firms like Oracle, SAP and Salesforce.com offer cloud services for business.

Strategy Analytics forecasts US spending on cloud services to grow from $31 billion in 2011 to $82 billion by 2016.

But some experts say security implications of the cloud have not been fully analyzed, and that the cloud may open up new vulnerabilities and problems.

“If past is prologue I don’t think any system is absolutely secure,” said Stelios Sidiroglou-Douskos, a research scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.

“The analogy most people give is having a lock on your door. It’s not a guarantee no one will break in, but it’s a question of how much time it will take, and if your lock is better than your neighbor’s.”

In a cloud environment, “this makes the job of the attacker so much harder, which means the amateur hacker might be obsolete,” said Sidiroglou-Douskos, who is working on a US government-funded research project to develop “self-healing” clouds.

Potential gold mine for cybercriminals

But if a system is breached, analysts say, the amount of information lost could be far greater than what is in a single computer or cluster.

“You can have better defenses” in the cloud, “but if an attack happens, it’s highly amplified,” says Sidiroglou-Douskos.

The four-year MIT project funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency seeks to develop systems that automatically fix data breaches in a manner similar to “human immunology,” says the researcher.

A number of cloud security breaches have raised concerns, including attacks on the Sony PlayStation Network, LinkedIn and Google’s Gmail service. One hacker recently claimed to have stolen credit card numbers from 79 major banks.

“Crimes target sources of value. Large company networks offer more targets to hackers,” says Nir Kshetri, a professor of economics who studies cybercrime at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

“Information stored in clouds is a potential gold mine for cybercriminals.”
Kshetri said in a paper submitted to the journal Telecommunications Policy that when questions come up, “the cloud industry’s response has been: Clouds are more secure than whatever you’re using now. But many users do not agree.”

“Fake clouds”

Marcus Sachs, former director of the Sans Technology Institute’s Internet Storm Center, said the cloud may be more secure but also opens up new questions.

“In the cloud, you don’t necessarily know where your data sits,” Sachs told AFP.

“That doesn’t make it less vulnerable to attack, but there are questions when it comes to (an) audit, or if you want to take the data back or destroy it, how do you know you’ve erased it?”

Sachs said that analysts have also discovered “fake clouds” which are offered as low-cost alternatives but are in fact operated by “criminal groups which monitor and steal the data.”

“We have seen instances of this not in the US, but in the former Soviet Union and in China,” he said.

Still, the cloud market is burgeoning, with companies and government agencies moving to either “public” clouds that are easily accessed or so-called “private clouds” that are segregated from the Internet.

Some analysts say other issues need to be resolved about cloud computing, such as who is liable if data is lost, and how data can be accessed for government investigations.

Outages have recently affected Apple’s and Amazon’s cloud services, causing some websites to be affected.

“Privacy, security and ownership issues in the cloud fall into legally gray areas,” Kshetri says.

Sidiroglou-Douskos said there is no single answer for people or companies choosing between cloud systems and holding the data themselves.

“If you are trying to protect yourself from the government, then having it in the public cloud makes it easier for them to get it,” he said.

“If your main worry is a hacker in Russia, maybe (cloud) infrastructure is better for your own security.”

source: interaksyon.com